In many ways, the lithium-ion battery is the combustion-engine equivalent for EVs. It defines how EVs are built, sold and driven. But unlike gas engines, which take years and billions of dollars to develop for each new vehicle, a well-designed battery platform can do a lot more with a lot less. If executed smartly and scaled aggressively, a single EV architecture can power an entire lineup, slashing costs, speeding development and potentially reaping big dividends in the long term.
General Motors isn’t just embracing this approach, it’s betting the house on it.
GM’s battery operations in the U.S. are now so vast and expansive that the company is already producing more cells than Tesla, according to Bloomberg’s latest deep dive into its EV plans. And the plants aren’t even running at full capacity. GM’s $2.3 billion Ultium Cells battery factory in the suburbs of Nashville, Tennessee, spans five football fields and runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It cranks out 5,000 finished battery cells every hour.
Ultium Cells LLC Battery Plant in Warren, Ohio
Another $2.3 billion facility in Lordstown, Ohio also produces EV batteries en masse. They’re both co-owned by GM and Korean battery giant LG Energy Solution. Together they supply packs to models like the Chevy Equinox EV and Cadillac Lyriq that are now increasingly popular in the U.S.
Part of that momentum comes down to price, especially for the Equinox EV. At the BloombergNEF summit earlier this year, Kurt Kelty—Tesla’s former battery chief and now GM’s head of battery and propulsion—said GM slashed battery costs by $60 per kilowatt-hour last year. In 2025 he’s targeting another $30 drop by ramping up production and improving manufacturing yield, which refers to the percentage of parts made successfully, without defects.
If GM succeeds, it can achieve around $100 per kWh, a 50% price reduction compared to battery costs in 2023, and possibly even undercutting Tesla. For context, the average pack cost in China is $94 per kWh, according to BNEF. That puts GM within striking distance of the world’s most cost-competitive EV market.
Still, it’s not quite there yet. The battery pack on the Blazer EV and Equinox EV costs about $13,000, significantly more than what GM pays for an engine and transmission on its gas cars. So there’s more ground to cover.
To close that gap, GM is preparing to pivot from its current battery modules to prismatic cells. GM formed a $3.5 billion joint venture with Samsung SDI last year to build a 640-acre factory in New Carlisle, Indiana to build these prismatic cells. These types of cells, shaped like rectangular bricks, fit perfectly together without any waste of space and will help GM EVs lose weight and improve range, according to Kelty.
This plant was expected to begin production next year, but has been delayed to 2027. Even then, GM’s EV bet may now be irreversible. The scale, scope, and investment are too big to walk back. Political and regulatory headwinds could slow things down in the short term, but GM’s long-term EV commitment looks all but locked in.
Contact the author: suvrat.kothari@insideevs.com
